Navigate:

Some Dems embrace GOP maps

“Dennis is Dennis,” Israel told reporters at a news conference last year.

No Democrat is facing more blowback than Brady. The map solidified the congressman’s hold on the Philadelphia-based district he has held since 1998 by shrinking the number of black voters and thereby diminishing the prospect of a strong primary challenge from a black candidate. The plan even drew the home of a potential Brady challenger, Democratic state Rep. Tony Payton, outside of the district.

Text Size

-

+

reset

But Brady’s plan may have backfired: Former Philadelphia Municipal Court Judge Jimmie Moore has turned the congressman’s alliance with Republicans into a central theme of his primary bid against Brady. Moore is crisscrossing the district accusing Brady, a longtime party boss who also heads the Philadelphia Democratic Party, of being a turncoat. In a letter to Brady posted on Moore’s website, the former judge wrote: “Watching you sell out your party for your own benefit, I felt as I imagine [Philadelphia] Eagles fans would feel if Michael Vick, in his Eagles uniform, was caught in the back of a bar sharing game plans with [New York Giants quarterback] Eli Manning.”

“He’s not just a Democrat. He is the head of the Democratic Party in Philadelphia. When the head of the party teams up with the opposing party, what does that say?” Moore told POLITICO. “I think it’s major.”

Brady defended his support for the plan, saying that Republicans presented Democrats with two maps and that he backed the one that was far better for the party’s prospects.

“My opponents are trying to turn this into something political, saying I had something to do with drawing districts,” Brady said. “We didn’t pick this. Come on.”

For some black members, working with Republicans on redistricting is the best way to ensure that their districts remain solidly Democratic and are concentrated with like-minded minority voters who will help guarantee their hold on seats for years to come. But in taking those Democratic voters for themselves, black members can also leave their white Democratic colleagues out in the cold.

Missouri Rep. Emanuel Cleaver, chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus, encouraged a Democratic state legislator to vote for a GOP remap that made his seat and that of another black member, Rep. Lacy Clay, safe but eliminated the district of fellow Democratic Rep. Russ Carnahan. Clay offered his tacit support for the plan.

Carnahan, who is white, was enraged over what he saw as collusion. He confronted Cleaver and Clay on the House floor, telling Clay, “F—- you. Thanks for your help.”

In an interview, Carnahan indicated tensions had eased with his colleagues but said that he was still frustrated with the line-drawing process.

“I am not upset, but I am very focused on this being done correctly,” Carnahan said. “This is bigger than just me. This is going to impact the representation of our state and our region.”

For all the gamesmanship surrounding redistricting, no Democrat wants to be seen as the one making a deal with the devil — particularly when the outcome is devastating for the party.

Last year, North Carolina Republicans approved a map that imperils several Democratic-held seats and said that the final plan was in part based on recommendations provided by Democratic Rep. G.K. Butterfield, whose seat became safer.

Butterfield, a fourth-term member who has spent more than two decades in elected office, has pushed back aggressively.

“I deny that I cooperated with Republicans in any way in developing my district,” Butterfield said. “I don’t think there’s anyone who doubts my assertions that I didn’t cooperate with Republicans.”